The invention relates to portable keyboard musical instruments (known as "keyboards" in the trade), and more particularly to a portable case and stand for pedal controls operationally fixed therein for use with a keyboard temporarily mountable thereon.
Portable keyboard musical instruments are electronically operated and controlled to produce many varied sound effects. A number of pedal controls are required, and these have been carried loose in any convenient box with with the necessary cables for connecting them to a local source of power and to associated terminals on a keyboard. Heretofore setting up before playing, and packing up after playing took substantial amounts of time as the prior art listed below discloses.
Bontempi, U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,114 teaches a keyboard, with no pedal controls disclosed, housed in a pair of curved sides that in combination provided a carrying case for the keyboard. The case is removable and is rearrangeable to provide a stand for the keyboard.
Andersen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,555 teaches a portable electric piano fixed in a case open at the top and front for access to keys that are covered by a removable cover for transporting, and movable legs and a single pedal control for which the case provides no storage.
A second Andersen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,415 teaches a case for an electronic piano with storage space for detachable legs.
And Gage, U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,700 teaches a portable piano in a case with removable legs and pedal controls, but with no place to store them when removed.
The invention, on the other had, teaches a case not only for carrying a plurality of pedal controls and connecting cables, but for fixing the pedals in permanent operational setup for playing, and providing a stand for a keyboard when the storage case is opened. The invention saves approximately an hour in setup time and in packup time, averts errors in connecting pedal controls to a power source and keyboard terminals and in the use of connecting cables with the wrong control and terminal.